Only When You're Lonely
by capm
Summary: Pete is a new guy at school, and he is having problems making friends who will spend time with him after school. How will he respond? How does this impact the spies?
1. Chapter 1 Assistance!

**Chapter One – Assistance!**

Alex and Pete are studying together for a History exam. Pete is helping Alex over some rough spots. Pete is a new student at Beverly Hills High, but viewed as a nerd by pretty much everyone. The only reason Alex is studying with him is that she needs the help.

As the study period ends, Pete says, "Alex, do you have a date for the dance this Friday?"

Alex likes Pete as a classroom acquaintance. But he is rather plain looking, and not very athletic. Besides, she really doesn't want to go on a date with him. "Oh... ah.. Pete! I'm sorry! I have a date!" says Alex, even though she doesn't.

"That's ok," says Pete, sadly. Alex hurries off into the corridor, when she runs into Rueben, literally. Rueben is a star on the football team, and a hottie!

"Oh... Sorry Rueben!" says Alex dreamily.

"My fault, Alex! Say, how would you like to go to the dance Friday?"

"I'd love too!" coos Alex. Out of the corner of her left eye, she notices that Pete has witnessed the whole event. He quietly lowers his head and walks away. Alex blushes in embarrassment.

The next day, Clover and Mandy are chosen as team captains for a Social Studies competition.

"So, Clover! Ready to get whipped?" chides Mandy.

"You wish!" responds Clover. "My team will end up on top!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" replies Mandy.

One of Clover's first choices is Pete. The competition goes to the 17th round, but Pete comes through! Clover's team wins! Mandy is fit to be tied!

"You'd never have won without Pete!" grouses Mandy.

Clover 'high fives' Pete. "That was great, Pete! Mandy had to eat her words!"

After class, Pete asks Clover, "Clover, do you have a date for the dance Friday?"

But Clover also rebuffs him. "I'm sorry Pete! My social schedule is full!" Clover likes Pete as a classroom acquaintance too, but nothing more. He's so plain looking. He's no '10', that's for sure! He isn't a '9' or an '8' either! She only dates '9s' or better, so he's off the list!

"No problem!" says Pete in his falsetto voice and walks away quietly, but just before he leaves earshot, Aaron, a football stud asks, "Hey Clover, how about going to the dance Friday with me?"

"Sure!" Clover responds dreamily.

It's Wednesday, and Chess Club time! Sam is locked in a battle royale with Pete. On the 72nd move, Pete makes a brilliant sacrifice that leads to his victory five moves later.

"Well played, Pete! That was some game!" Sam congratulates.

Pete tries once more, "Say Sam, do you have a date for the dance Friday?"

Sam wants to be gentle, "You are a sweet person, Pete, but no! I'm sorry!"

"That's OK", says Pete as he walks away sadly.

Sam also likes Pete as a classroom acquaintance, but she really doesn't want to go on a date with him either. Sam feels bad; she likes Pete as a school chum, but that's all. As it turns out, Don, a cute boy from Physics, asks her to the dance in the parking lot, and she readily accepts. Pete witnesses the episode from across the parking lot, and sadly walks home. Sam sees him out of the corner of her eye, and blushes momentarily.

And so it goes for Pete. Pete asks every girl in Beverly Hills High to the dance, but gets turned down. "What? Me go to the dance with YOU?", "Sorry, I don't date nerds!", "Go date your computer, nerdman!", are some of the nicer rebuttals he gets. He ends up spending Friday night and the rest of the weekend alone at home.

Monday is tough for Pete as everyone raves on how great the dance was. Pete just silently walks to class, and starts studying. There is another dance this Friday, and Pete tries valiantly again, asking around for a date, but gets the same results.

As the school month progresses, Alex is having difficulty again in History. She has avoided Pete since she turned him down, and saw him after she accepted Rueben's invitation. She would say a perfunctory "Hi!" and that's it. But she was in a bind.

So she quietly asks Pete, "Pete, can you help me with this History chapter?"

But Pete replies, "Sorry Alex! I have to finish this project!" and walks away.

Clover is having some problems in Social Studies too. She's going to ask Pete for help.

"Say Pete, I am having trouble with this chapter. Can you help me?" Clover asks.

Clover is surprised by Pete's answer. "Sorry, Clover! I'm helping another student!" and walks away. Clover is dumbfounded. No guy has EVER turned her down when she asked for help before!

There is going to be a mini chess tournament between players in the Chess Club. Matt is chosen as one team captain, and Sam as the other. Sam gets first pick.

"I choose Pete," says Sam. But Pete says, "Oh, I'm sorry Sam. I almost forgot! I have to get home to do my homework! See you around!" and he walks away. Sam is confused.

Soon the gals are together, and Sam asks, "Have you gals noticed anything unusual about Pete?"

"I'll say! I asked him to help me with Social Studies, but he told me he was helping another student! Then 5 minutes later I saw him walking to the library!" says Clover.

"Same here, Sammy!" says Alex. "I needed help in History, but he said he needed to finish a project. A little while later I saw him walking around the soccer field!"

"I had a similar experience. We were going to have a chess tourney within the Chess Club, but when I chose him for my team he left in a hurry saying he needed to do homework! Then I saw him walking in the parking lot," says Sam.

"It sounds like he doesn't want to associate with us!" says Clover indignantly.

"Well, that's fine with me!" says Alex angrily.

"I agree. I wonder, though, what happened. He was always a helpful and friendly guy!" says Sam.


	2. Chapter 2 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

**Chapter 2 – The Heart is a Lonely Hunter**

And so the gals ignore Pete. They speak to him only when they have to, and his replies are curt and to the point. What's gotten into him, they wonder?

Of course, what has gotten into Pete is he wants to have friends that are willing to spend some of their free time with him, going to dances, the Mall, etc. Pete is having a hard time dealing with the loneliness. He can't figure out what's wrong. He used to always help people when they needed the help, but then they treated him like a leper after school! Everyone knows Pete when they need help in a subject or he can help their 'team' win, but when it comes to outside-of-school activities, everyone is unavailable or busy!

The next Friday, instead of staying home while the rest of Beverly Hills High is at the school dance, he goes to the Mall. While he is there, some students from Valley High notice him in his Beverly Hills High sweater.

While Pete is walking around the Mall, he is almost run over!  
  
"Ohhh, I'm sorry!!"

As Pete looks around he comes face to face with one of the prettiest girls he has ever seen.

"Oh! Are you ok?" Pete asks hesitantly.

"Yes, how about you?" she asks sympathetically.

"I'm fine," and Pete turns to go his way, when she says, "My name is Angie, what's yours?"

"My name is Pete."

"Do you come to the Mall often?"

"About once a week."

"May I join you, window-shopping?"

"Sure!"

Pete and Angie go off. Before the night is through, Angie has invited Pete to the Saturday dance at Valley High. He readily accepts. At the dance, Angie introduces Pete to some of her friends: they are all football players. He also finds out that Angie is the Captain of the cheerleading squad. The dance goes well. Finally, someone is willing to spend some of his or her free time with him! The trap is set.

The week goes by quickly. Pete doesn't really notice that some of the Beverly Hills High students who used to talk with him, now shun him, like the gals. It's not like they were willing to spend any of their free time with him anyways! He lives for the weekend, and Angie!

Two weeks later, on Friday, Pete and Angie are at the Mall.

"Pete, why aren't you at the Beverly Hills High dance tonight?" asks Angie.

"Because I couldn't get a date for it!" he replies in disgust.

"Why is that? You're a nice enough guy!"

"Oh, they know me when they need help understanding something or need my 'smarts' to win a competition for them. But when it comes to spending free time with me, I might as well be the invisible man! That's why I come to the Mall every Friday. It's easier to deal with the loneliness when you're among people. And since I've met you, I'm not lonely anymore!"

"That's cruel for them to treat you like that!" remarks Angie with a tear. "How could they do that to you?"

"Well, they did! You and the guys at Valley High (VHS) are the only people who have been a friend to me since I moved here a month ago," says Pete.

Time to spring the trap! "You should get even with those snooty Beverly Hills High students! You know, if you could help Valley High win the football game next week, that would teach them a lesson!" says Angie.

"What can I do? I'm no football player!" says Pete.

"No, but if you could get the Game Plan, the team can do the rest!"

"I don't know...."

"For Meeeee? Pleaseeeeee?" says Angie, as she ogles him with her big brown eyes and kisses Pete on the cheek.

"OK! I'll do it!" says Pete after a moment's hesitation.


	3. Chapter 3 Benedict Arnold

**Chapter 3 – Benedict Arnold**

That Monday, Alex sees Pete go into the Head Coach's office. The coach isn't there. While in the office, Pete searches for the Game Plan. After finding what he is looking for, Pete exits the office with the folder under his shirt. A little while latter, Sam sees Pete making a copy of a rather large document, and Clover sees Pete enter the Head Coach's office for a few minutes again. Pete replaces the document, and then leaves. The gals don't think anymore about it.

The spies are walking home from school.

"If Mr. Jenkins gives any more homework, I'll have to miss our Mall date!" says Alex.

"Totally!" replies Clover. "The man obviously thinks his is the only class we are taking!"

"Well, I don't think it will be too bad!" says Sam soothingly.

Just as they start to cross the street over a sewer cover, they get WOOHP'd!

"Jerry!", they exclaim.

"Glad you could drop in!

"Ladies, we have a serious situation. Someone has stolen important documents from the Weapons Lab at Los Alamos! We fear that they will sell them to an enemy foreign power!" says Jerry.

"What do the documents contain?" asks Sam.

"They are documents for a top secret space laser gun! Should someone build and deploy such a weapon, nothing would be safe on earth, as it could destroy anything, including flying objects! The country with this weapon would quite literally rule the world!"

"Then we better get started and stop them!" says Clover.

"Exactly! And now for your gadgets: bungee belts; the new combination x-ray m-ray contacts; sound enhancing earrings; and jet-drill-suction go-go boots. You'll be using your voice-activated cycles as transportation. Good luck, girls!"

And the gals are off to New Mexico. Arriving at the Lab, they visit the head of the Lab, Dr. Stele.

"What can you tell us about the theft?" asks Sam.

"The laser gun is a top secret project. We have worked on it for years, and the plans were just completed!" says Dr. Stele.

"Where did you keep the plans for the project?"

"In our top secret safe! Only three people besides me have access to it: Paul, Karen, and Sheldon. You need two people to open the safe; there is only one of each key and a combination that goes with it. You need both to open it."

"What if someone duplicated a key?" asks Alex.

"It would be useless without the combination that goes with it. We did that purposely so that two people must ALWAYS be present to open the safe. Plus the safe records who and when the safe was open, on our security computer."

"Sounds like all we have to do is investigate who opened the safe between the last known time the documents were there, and the time they disappeared!" says Clover.

"It won't be that easy! Our security thought the same thing. But there was no record of anyone entering the safe between the last time we saw the documents, and the time they were missing!"

"Then we better start by interviewing the other three people with access. Let's each take one, to speed up the process: Clover, you talk to Sheldon; Alex you take Paul; and I'll talk to Karen!"

"Right Sammy!' says Alex.

"On my way!" says Clover.

Sam tracks down Karen.

"Hi, Karen. My name is Sam. I'm investigating the theft of the top-secret plans!" says Sam, as she introduces herself.

"Hello, Sam. What can I do to help?" asks Karen.

"Well, could you tell me where you where last week?"

"Oh, yes! I was on vacation! My husband and I went to Hawaii! It was BEAUTIFUL!"

"I see. We're you gone all week?"

"Yes. We just got back yesterday evening!"

"Ok! Thanks, Karen."

"Sorry I wasn't much help, Sam," and Karen goes off with two girlfriends for some coffee.

When Sam checks the timekeeping records, they confirm that Karen hadn't clocked in all week, and her timecard showed her on vacation. That clears Karen.

Clover talks to Sheldon.

"So Sheldon, what do you know about the missing plans?" she asks after introducing herself and telling him the purpose of her visit.

"Not much, Clover. I was working on two other top-secret projects, B08A3F and B05N89."

"Did you have to use the top-secret safe at any time?"

"No, that safe is for completed projects only! We have safes in our areas for those in process! Both of mine ended up in our area safe."

"I see."

Clover also checks the timekeeping system to verify if Sheldon is telling the truth. According to the system, he is. Sheldon left his interview with Clover, and joined a friend for lunch.

Alex searches out Paul.

"Hello, Paul? My name is Alex. I'm looking into the theft of the top secret plans."

"Well, Alex, I wasn't working on them! I was working on B01NM9A all week! I had no reason to go to the top-secret vault."

"Where would your project be stored, when you're not working on it?"

"In our departmental safe. All in-process projects would be there for our department."

"Ok, thanks Paul."

With that, Paul trudges off to lunch.

Alex verifies Paul's time in the timekeeping system, and it checks out.

The gals report back together to compare notes.

"Karen checks out. She wasn't even here! She was in Hawaii on vacation.!" says Sam.

"Sheldon checks out also. He can account for his time the entire period in question!" says Clover.

"So can Paul!" says Alex.

"Well, where do we go from here?" asks Clover.

"The perpetrator has to be either Sheldon, Paul, or Dr. Stele," says Sam.

"Dr. Stele?" cry Alex and Clover together.

"He also has a key and access code. So he is not above suspicion either! I checked his time out, and he also can account for his whereabouts. I think each one of us should shadow one of these three guys! Why don't you and Alex stay with Sheldon and Paul and I'll shadow Dr. Stele," says Sam.

"OK, Sammy!" says Alex.

"Ok," says Clover.

Sam shadows Dr. Stele. She follows him home on her cycle, and bungee's to the roof of the house. She uses the new contact lenses to watch his moves in the house and employs the sound enhancing earrings to listen in on his conversations, especially over the phone. But she is coming up empty. He only has one telephone call, from a friend who wanted to check if he was going to the football game this weekend. A careful examination of papers in the house with the contacts showed nothing from Los Alamos.

Clover does the same with Sheldon. She follows him to his apartment, as well as to a hot date he has at the local dance club. She checks his apartment with her contacts. Nothing from Los Alamos. She follows Sheldon to the dance club and bungees to the top of the club. She listens in on his conversation, but nothing unusual is transpiring, with regards to stolen weapons. Again, nothing.

Alex follows Paul. He lives alone in a manufactured house. She bungees to the top of the house and uses the contacts to search it. During her scan, she sees something from the Lab on his desk. Before she can continue her search, she sees a car coming down the drive. She quickly lies flat to avoid detection. The car stops, and a very beautiful woman steps out, dressed provocatively. She knocks, and Alex gives a listen, as she secretly snaps a picture of her with her compowder.

"Paul!" says the mystery woman with enthusiasm as she gives him an amorous kiss.

"Svetlana!" replies Paul. "Good to see you, again!"

"Do you have my package, sweetums?"

"Of course! But first, my payment!"

Alex compowders Jerry. "Jerry, what can you tell me about a woman who looks like the photo I sent you and goes by the name 'Svetlana'?"

Jerry is quick to respond, "Svetlana is a notorious spy! She deals in underground weapons!"

"Then I think I have our suspect! Thanks, Jerry!" says Alex.

Alex then calls Sam and Clover, "Guys! I think I found our thief! HEY! What gives????" and her compowder dies.

Sam and Clover got the initial call. "Alex!" they both say at the same time.

Sam calls Clover. "Clover, we have to lock in Alex's GPS coordinates and find her! It's a good thing the coordinates are automatically generated on a connection, because I can't seem to raise Alex on her compowder now!"

"Right, Sam! Meet you there!"

Alex had made just a little too much noise on the roof of Paul's house. He thought he heard a voice and quickly secured a ladder and grabbed Alex. Her compowder fell from her grasp, and broke to pieces on the cement of the driveway below.

"A voyeur! Can't even enjoy some intimate privacy!" says an angry Paul to Alex, as he secures her with duct tape.

"I am NOT a voyeur!" Alex says indignantly. "Besides, you don't know what you are doing! She is a spy!" says Alex.

"Don't believe her, honey!" says Svetlana sweetly. "I'd never betray you!" and she kisses him.

Paul tapes Alex's mouth shut, as she continued to protest. He goes to call the police.

"No need, darling! I've already done so! And here they are!" says Svetlana as two of her fellow agents arrive, dressed as policemen.

"We'll take this lawbreaker into custody! You won't be bothered by her again!" they say.

Meanwhile, Sam and Clover have arrived on their cycles. They employed their sound enhancing earrings and know exactly what is going on.

"Clover! You hit them from that side of the van, I'll hit them from this tree!"

"Ok, Sam!"

As the fake police carry Alex to their van, Clover and Sam attack, catching them off guard. They quickly summon WOOHP on their compowders, as they free Alex.

"Guys! You've got to stop him! Paul has the documents! I saw them on his desk! He's going to give them to that Svetlana!" cries Alex in alarm.

"Don't worry! When we free you, we'll all go in and get them," says Sam, just as WOOHP starts to arrive.

Svetlana can see that she has been found out. She grabs the documents, pushes past a startled Paul, and runs out the back door – right into Jerry.

"Going somewhere, Svetlana?" says Jerry as he quickly subdues and handcuffs her, recovering the documents.

The spies are in the house and are handcuffing Paul.

"I always wonder what causes someone to turn traitor," says Alex.

"Traitor?" says Paul. "Those documents are useless! I wouldn't betray my country!"

"But..," says Clover.

"Yes, I stole some documents, but if anyone takes a good look at them, they're for a gatling gun, circa 1860! I knew Svetlana didn't really care for me! A hot woman like that doesn't fall for a roly-poly engineer!"

"Then why did you do it?" asks Sam quizzically.

"Because she was the only woman who would go out with me! Everyone knows me at work, but not after. I was lonely!"

"Lonely or not, you still stole some documents, even if they are over 100 years old!" says Jerry, as he takes Paul into custody.

"But, where are the laser gun plans?" asks a confused Sam.

"I bet I know," says Paul.

"Where?" asks Clover.

"They're still in the vault! I'll bet they slipped behind the drawer they are in! It happens all the time! If we had some modern equipment it wouldn't, but those filing drawers are 75 years old! I'll bet you'll find them there!"

So saying Dr. Stele and the in-custody Paul go to the vault and unlock it. Sure enough, the plans had slid behind the drawer and under it! They were still secure in the safe!

"Excellent work, ladies!" says Jerry, as he takes Paul away. The gals are off for home.


	4. Chapter 4 Benedict Arnold Take Two!

**Chapter 4 – Benedict Arnold Part Two**

It is now Thursday, and there is no dance at Beverly Hills High, so most of the students end up at the Mall. Of course, Pete is at the Mall too, waiting for Angie.

Alex is coming around a corner, not looking where she is going, and runs right into Pete causing him to drop his folder of copies. The big game between Valley High and Beverly Hills High is tomorrow!

"Ohh! I'm sorry Pete! Let me help you!" and as Alex does, she notices some football plays. Pete quickly takes the copies away from her, saying, "Thanks, Alex!" and hurries off.

A short time later, Alex is talking to the gals.

"I just had a strange experience! I accidentally ran into Pete, causing him to drop a folder. The folder looked like football plays."

"What would Pete be doing with football plays?" asks Sam.

"Well, I saw him leaving the coach's office Monday!" says Clover.

"And I saw him going into the coach's office Monday!" says Alex.

"I saw him making copies of a pretty large document too! Hmmm! I wonder.....," says Sam.

While they are talking, they see Pete with Angie. Clover immediately recognizes Angie as the captain of the Valley High cheerleaders.

"What's Pete doing with her?" Clover asks.

Pete hands the folder to Angie. "Here it is, just like you requested!"

Angie glances through the folder, and says, "Thanks, sucker!" and she starts laughing.

"What's this?" asks Pete.

"You fool! Did you _really_ think a head cheerleader would waste her time with a dogface like you, unless there was a reason? This folder will help Valley High win the Regional Championship, by beating the only team that can beat us – Beverly Hills High." Angie continues to laugh, as do the football players who accompanied her, as they leave.

Pete is stunned, momentarily. He slowly turns to leave, when he is confronted by the spies and the students from Beverly Hills High.

"So, Pete, you would betray Beverly Hills High to that Mata Hari!" says Clover indignantly.

"How could you, Pete? You attend Beverly Hills High!" says Sam accusingly.

"Why?" asks Alex.

Pete is angry. "Like you, or anyone else at Beverly Hills High really cares about me! At least I had two weekends I didn't have to spend alone, even if I was used!!" and he leaves in a huff, before his tears show.

The spies hesitate, as the other students leave in anger. His words hit home. While all the other kids at Beverly Hills High were enjoying themselves in each other's company, they had all excluded Pete! The gals realize that they were as guilty as the rest.

"I feel terrible!" says Alex.

"Me too!" says Sam.

"Still, he shouldn't have betrayed the school!" says Clover.

"Even if the school's students betrayed him, Clover?

"We know him at school, and shunned him away from it. No wonder he fell for that old trap!" says Sam.

The spies sadly leave the Mall.

Friday at school everyone shuns Pete. He is treated like a pariah. The day can't finish quickly enough for him. As he's walking home, Alex tries to talk to him.

"Pete?" asks Alex.

"Well! What do YOU want?" says Pete irritably.

Alex gets angry. "Why don't you just park your stupid anger and listen! I wanted to apologize for the way I have treated you, but if your going to be that way, forget it!" and she turns to leave.

"Alex?" says Pete in a much softer tone of voice, "I'm sorry! The way everyone talked to me today, I was expecting more of the same. Please forgive my jumping to conclusions!"

Alex stops and faces Pete. "Pete, people are angry at you because you gave our football game plan to Valley High!"

"Alex, no matter how badly people have treated me at Beverly Hills High, I would never betray the school!"

"But the folder...."

"Alex, I knew Angie was using me! I know when a gal who is a '15' on a scale of 1-10 who doesn't know me at all, all of the sudden shows interest in me, there has to be a hidden agenda, especially if she is from a rival school! Yes, I gave her a folder with a Beverly Hills High (BHHS) game plan –from 1946! If they follow it at all, Beverly Hills High will win easily!"

"Why didn't you tell them this at school?" asks Alex quizzically.

"Do you really think they'd believe me? For that matter, do YOU?" asks Pete.

Alex says without hesitation, "I believe you, Pete! I have never known you to be a liar!"

"Thanks, Alex! You're the first person at Beverly Hills High to treat me like a friend!" says Pete, with a tear in his eye.

Alex hugs Pete, "And we are friends! Don't you forget it!"


	5. Chapter 5 The Game

**Chapter 5 – The Big Game**

They walk a little when Alex says, "Are you going to the game tonight?"

"I'll watch it from the hill overlooking the field. I can't go to the stadium. I don't want to get beat up! You know the truth, but no one else does, nor do they care!"

Pete walks Alex home and then goes home himself.

Later that night, Alex informs the gals of what Pete really did, just prior to the game.

"...So he didn't betray the school!!!"

"Let's spread the word!" says Sam.

"I will, after I see how the game goes," says Clover. "After turning something over to our arch rivals, I'm not sure I can trust him!"

"What about me, Clover?" asks Alex quietly, "Can you trust me?"

Clover sees that she has hurt Alex's feelings. She quickly gives Alex an apologetic, friendly hug and says, "Of course, I do, silly! I'll help spread the word among the other cheerleaders and the football team! You guys will have to do the stands!"

"OK!" says Alex as she happily returns the hug, accepting the apology.

"Let's do it!" says Sam.

As the football game begins, BHHS is surprised to see VHS in a 7-4 defense with no defensive backs. The quarterback quickly audibles to a pass, and almost immediately BHHS leads 7-0. The same thing happens on defense. VHS comes out in a 5 wide receiver passing attack, but BHHS is ready for it, as they are running a two-deep zone and intercepts the ball. End of first quarter 14-0. More of the same continues in the second quarter, as Beverly Hills starts rolling. At the half it is 35-0.

The Valley High football team is looking none to happily at Angie. It looks like she's been had! Their plan to get the BHHS game plan has backfired! Their Mata Hari was duped!!

The second half sees Valley High throw out the BHHS game plan, but it is already too late. They are down so much that BHHS knows exactly what they have to do on defense, and can eat up the clock on offense. With 7 minutes left in the game, Beverly Hills High leads 63-0 and is playing their 4th string. Sam, Alex, and Matt leave the stadium.

On the hill overlooking the stadium, Pete has seen the entire game. He's glad the team is winning, even though everyone hates him for what they believe he did. He decides to watch until Beverly Hills scores their final touchdown with 2 seconds left, making the score 70-0. He gets up from his grassy perch and turns to go to his car, when he is confronted by Sam, Alex, and Matt!

"Enjoying the game?" asks Sam in a friendly tone, as she smiles at Pete.

"Well....yes. The team really played well!" stammers Pete.

"Your leaving for the victory dance, right?" asks Matt.

"Well, no ... who'd want to go with me?" asks Pete.

"I would!" says Alex.

"You WOULD?!?!" says Pete in astonishment.

"Yes, Pete! I'll go with you," says Alex. She adds quietly , "That is, if you'll take me!"

"It might get rough, Alex!" protests Pete.

"I don't think so. Come on!" says Matt with a smile.

"OK, Alex! You're on! I'll take you!" says a very happy Pete.

As the foursome enters the gym, all the lights are out. As soon as they hit the doorway, all the lights come on!

Clover says, "There he is! The guy who taught Valley High not to cheat!!!" and she gives Pete a hug. Quickly Pete is surrounded by happy Beverly Hills High students. They are congratulating him, and patting him on the back, as he moves toward Sam, Alex, and Clover's table. The band starts playing, and Pete says to Alex, "Care to dance?"

"Totally!" says Alex. And they do. Pete dances with a few other girls at the dance also, but mostly with Alex. He is happy, as he finally feels he has some friends. He has been accepted.

As Pete dances with Alex, Sam says to Clover at the table, "Clover? I swear I'll NEVER treat anyone like I treated Pete! He really is a nice guy outside of school too!"

"I agree, Sam! I guess we have to look deeper than skin deep to judge a person!"

Alex also vows in her mind to never treat anyone like she treated Pete, either. She is really enjoying his company tonight! He's a good dancer and he is fun to be with! What was she looking at before, she wonders. Well, it doesn't matter now! She hopes she'll see more of Pete.

After the dance, Pete drives Alex home.

"Thanks, Alex for a great evening! I really enjoyed it!" says Pete as he walks her to the front door, the two holding hands.

"So did I, Pete! I hope we can go out again!", says Alex, unsure how Pete will react.

"Alex, if you're willing, I'll gladly take you out again! I really like you, Alex!"

Alex blushes. "I like you too, Pete! Please call me again." With that, Alex gives Pete a quick hug.

Pete is pleasantly surprised, as he watches Alex go in to her home through the front door. She gives him a pleasant smile as she closes the door. Pete is happy! He feels like he has a true friend. Finally!

On Monday, Pete is his old helpful self.

"Pete, I'm having problems with this Social Studies chapter, could you give me a hand?" asks Clover tentatively.

"OK, Clover, let's review it together and I'll see if I can help," says Pete.

"Great! Then we can go for a latte at the Mall after school!"

"That would be fun, Clover!"

Tuesday there is another mini-chess tournament. Again Matt and Sam are chosen as captains, and Sam chooses Pete. Pete comes through, winning all of his matches, helping Sam's team win. After school, Sam and Pete tour the _Picato_ exhibit at the Modern Art Museum.

Wednesday, Alex is having History problems, but she doesn't even have to ask Pete for help. He can see she is struggling, and he volunteers to help her.

"Can I help you, Alex?" Pete asks.

Alex says, "It's sure nice of you to ask, Pete! Yes, I could use some help."

"Anytime, Alex," says Pete, "that's what friends are for."

"Maybe after school we can go roller skating at the Rollerdrome."

"Well, Alex, I have never skated before, but if you'll teach me, I'll be happy to go!" says Pete.

"That's a deal! Then I can help YOU for a change!" says a happy Alex.


End file.
